Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Computer Software: Licensing

lord bourne of aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to use software licensing audits to investigate the practice of software vendors imposing unfair licence conditions on customers.

baroness barran: The Crown Commercial Service conducts software licensing audits on behalf of the public sector. Additionally, they operate an asset transfer system that allows unused software to be distributed across the public sector.

Social Media: Data Protection

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to further regulate how social media companies secure information online.

baroness barran: The Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR is in place to ensure that organisations, including social media companies, who collect and use personal data do so lawfully and transparently. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regulates data protection legislation in the UK. Organisations which fail to comply with the legislation may be the subject of enforcement action.

Mobile Phones

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that technology companies are deliberately slowing down old phone models.

baroness barran: The application of consumer law to specific cases is ultimately a matter for the courts and it is not for Government to take a view on specific cases. However, the Government expects companies to behave fairly towards consumers and they are not allowed to use unfair terms in their standard contracts with consumers. Terms which allow a trader to alter goods or digital content may be potentially unfair when the terms are not sufficiently transparent for the consumer to understand.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Cameroon: Armed Conflict

lord boateng: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the degree of engagement of the (1) Commonwealth, and (2) UN, in (a) resolving the tensions in Cameroon between Anglophone and Francophone communities, and (b) alleviating the conditions of internally displaced persons and refugees fleeing that conflict.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The British Government remains deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in the North-West and South-West (Anglophone) regions of Cameroon, which is affecting both Anglophone and Francophone communities. These regions suffer from high levels of violence, which has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.We continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Cameroon, and discuss in multilateral fora including the Commonwealth and the United Nations (UN). We welcome the joint visit to Cameroon in November 2019 by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Secretary-General of La Francophonie and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission. The three leaders urged the Government of Cameroon to make every effort to restore security, justice and the conditions for the resumption of normal life in the regions affected by the crisis. The UK also welcomes the efforts of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) in its ongoing work to monitor peace and security developments in the country, and engagement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who visited Cameroon in May 2019. We urge continued cooperation between the Government of Cameroon and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).The UK continues to call for inclusive dialogue which addresses the root causes of the crisis. We have made a £2 million contribution to the UN response, supporting 34,000 people with essential supplies, such as mosquito nets, hygiene kits and nutrition support, and continue to call for unhindered humanitarian access to the affected population. The UK stands ready to support all credible peacebuilding initiatives and believes that the regional and wider international community has an integral role to play, including in responding to the growing humanitarian need.

BBC World Service

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value of the BBC World Service to the UK.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports the BBC's mission to bring high quality and impartial news to global audiences, including where free speech is limited. The BBC World Service provides a link to the UK for people and communities who wouldn't otherwise have this opportunity. This is invaluable for our soft power and influence at an important time.

EU Countries: British Nationals Abroad

baroness miller of chilthorne domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remark by Lord Bethell on 16 January (HL Deb, col 839) that a country-by-country guide to UK citizens’ rights and associated obligations in each of the EU 27 countries is desirable, whether they intend to produce such a guide; and if so,when.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office maintains 'Living in Country Guides' for all EU Member States, EEA EFTA countries and Switzerland on GOV.UK. The guides cover approximately a dozen different areas including, the Withdrawal Agreement, residency, healthcare and pensions and benefits.The guides are updated on a constant basis and users can sign up for an email alert for their relevant guide so that they are notified when new content is added.Where Her Majesty's Government policy that affects British nationals is relevant, it features on the guides and is updated with input from the government department that owns the policy as necessary.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will continue to update these pages as more information becomes available from Member State governments about what actions British nationals need to take to confirm their status under the Withdrawal Agreement.

EU Countries: Reciprocal Arrangements

baroness miller of chilthorne domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government with which of the EU 27 member states they have negotiated a reciprocal agreement covering citizens rights; what each agreement covers; and what plans they haveto pursue any more such agreements.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Withdrawal Agreement protects the rights of UK nationals living in the EU for as long as they remain resident in their host country. They will be able to live, work, study, access healthcare and collect their pensions in their Member State of residence as they do now.The agreement sets out a transition period until 31 December 2020. During the transition period, EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU will be able to live, work and travel broadly as they do now.We are pursuing a relationship with the EU which is based on friendly cooperation between sovereign equals, and centred on free trade. The details, including on the mobility of citizens, are a matter for future negotiation.

Shaadi.com

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether Shaadi.com, when facilitating relationships and marriages, promotes (1)the caste system, and (2) discrimination against Dalits.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not made any assessment of Shaadi.com, or similar matrimonial websites.

Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to theanswer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledonon 29 January (HL Deb, col 1446),when the postponed Time for Justice: Putting Survivors Firstconference will take place; and how they intend to prioritise their commitment to support the victims and survivors of sexual violence in conflict in their policies.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) International Conference, Time for Justice: Putting Survivors First, will take place this year and we will confirm the exact date with the House in due course. The Foreign Secretary and I, as the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, will host the event.The UK is fully committed to supporting survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and follows a survivor-centred approach, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2467 on Sexual Violence in Conflict. This includes working closely with survivor networks to ensure their perspectives inform PSVI policy and programming. In October 2019, I appointed two UK PSVI Survivor Champions, Nadine Tunasi and Kolbassia Haoussou. The Survivor Champions advocate for all survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and are a vital element of our survivor-centred approach. The UK plans to announce a contribution to the International Fund for Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in due course.

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

lord luce: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the implementation of the decisions taken in London in April 2018 by the Commonwealth Heads of Government.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: Over the past two years, the UK - as Chair-in-Office - has worked closely with our Commonwealth partners to drive collective delivery of the commitments agreed at the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The work is supported by over £500 million of projects to support the Commonwealth in achieving these goals, which are already delivering benefits for member states. For example, over 3,000 women-owned businesses have now received training from the Commonwealth SheTrades project, supporting inclusive economic growth and prosperity. 31 Member States have committed to take action on marine plastic pollution as part of the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance. Also, the Pacific Nationally Determined Contribution Hub was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Fiji last week, helping Pacific Island Countries tackle climate change. The Government will publish a detailed update on the UK's period as Chair-in-Office in the coming months.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

baroness donaghy: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the pilot project for Managed Migration from legacy benefitsto Universal Credit, commenced in July 2019, will be completed; whether they intend to report the findings from that pilotto Parliament; and if so, when.

baroness stedman-scott: The Move to Universal Credit pilot commenced, as scheduled, in the area served by Harrogate Jobcentre in July 2019. The goal of the pilot is to learn as much as possible about how to safely move people from legacy benefits onto Universal Credit. As a result, we will increase numbers as slowly and gradually as necessary. We are adapting the design of this service and its processes frequently to ensure we provide the best possible support to those claimants who move to Universal Credit from their legacy benefit claims. The Department has already committed to updating Parliament and stakeholders on progress. We expect to provide our first update in the Spring.

Universal Credit

baroness donaghy: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of theSecondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee's 59th report of Session 2017–19 (HL Paper 419) on the Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/1152), published on 6 September 2019; what steps they have taken in response; and whether they intend to report to Parliament on their progress.

baroness stedman-scott: The Department has noted the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’s (SLSC) 59th report of Session 2017-19 (HL Paper 419) on the Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/1152), published on 6 September 2019. As the Parliamentary website notes, the SLSC’s scrutiny role is advisory; it does not seek to recommend courses of action on these instruments, and its reports are published principally to provide information for members of the House. Ministers regularly update Parliament regarding progress on Universal Credit and will continue to do so.

Cabinet Office

Civil Servants: Recruitment

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 29 January (HL528), what was the proportion of successful candidates to the Civil Service Fast Stream with science-related degrees who graduated from (1) Oxford, (2) Cambridge, (3) Russell Group universities, and (4) all other higher education establishments.

lord agnew of oulton: Information relating to candidates' university background is published in the Fast Stream and Early Talent 2017-18 annual report.We do not currently cross-tabulate information relating to science degrees and universities. Providing this information could only be done at disproportionate cost.The Russell Group is not in of itself a kite mark of quality and is not considered as such.



Fast Stream and Early Talent 2017-18 annual report
(PDF Document, 1.56 MB)

Treasury

Occupational Pensions: Tax Allowances

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Treasury provided in tax relief to UK pension schemes in each of the past ten years.

lord agnew of oulton: HMRC publishes figures relating to tax relief for registered pension schemes in Table 6 of the publication series ‘Personal pensions: contribution and tax relief statistics’. Table 6 (published in 2019) contains information for the years 2012 to 2013 through 2017 to 2018. Please see below: YearPension tax relief (net of tax received on pension income) (£m)2012-13 r19,2002013-14 r18,2002014-15 r17,9002015-16 r20,7002016-17 r18,9002017-18 p19,000 The above figures reflect the net cost of tax relief on pension contributions and any investment growth within pensions, less the tax paid on payments from pension schemes to those accessing their pensions that year. Also, please note:i. The figures are based on HMRC administrative data and information compiled from a variety of sources by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Costs are subject to large revisions and have a particularly wide margin of error.ii. The cost of the tax relief is calculated as the tax that would be paid on contributions to registered pension schemes presuming they were not registered and the payments were subject to the normal tax rules applying to individuals' remuneration. The estimates do not represent the yield from withdrawing tax relief as there would be significant changes in taxpayers' behaviour.iii. Figures for tax liabilities on pensions in payment are now calculated using administrative taxpayer data on RTI payments made by pension schemes.  Historical figures relating to older years are available on the national archive (see relevant figures below), however due to substantial revisions to methodology, figures for these years are not comparable with 2012 to 13 onwards.YearPension tax relief (net of tax received on pension income) (£m)2009-1020,1002010-1124,0002011-1222,800

Cooperatives

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to help individuals to establish cooperative businesses.

lord agnew of oulton: In 2014 the Government passed the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act, to reduce legal complexity for co-operatives and community benefit societies, and increased the amount of share capital an individual member can put into a cooperative society to £100,000. Co-operatives UK’s ’Co-op Economy’ report has found that annual turnover for co-operative and mutual businesses across the UK has grown year on year, reaching a record high of £37.7 billion in 2019.

Individual Savings Accounts

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bates on 13 December 2017 (HL3799), whatestimate they have made of the number of people aged (1) 50–59, (2) 60–69, (3) 70–79, (4) 80–89, and (5) 90 or over, who own ISAs; and for each age group, what is the monetary value of the average holding.

lord agnew of oulton: The number of people in the age bands (1) 50–59, (2) 60–69, (3) 70–79, (4) 80–89, and (5) 90 or over, who own ISAs; and the average holding is set out in the table below for the most recent year for which we have data (2016/2017): ISA Holders (16/17)Numbers: thousands  AgeTotal Number of ISA holdersAverage ISA Market Values 50-594,100£26,900 60-693,900£41,600 70-793,000£47,400 80-891,400£48,300 90 and over300£51,000 Total121,200£27,600Footnotes1 Total is for all ages, including those not shown in the table. This table is based on information used in HMRC Individual Savings Account (ISA) statistics, which is available on the Gov.uk website.